Here are a few images from my fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Feel free to use them as long as I’m acknowledged as the photographer.

This is a view of the section of the hill where my wife and I lived:

Below is a view of Caxambu’s hillside from the working class neighborhood below:

This is one of the stairways leading up the hillside (note the over-flowing dumpster in the foreground):

Here’s a pretty typical “ladeira” (a staircase or alleyway):

And another ladeira heading up the hill, showing how unpredictability and improvisation are also part of the neighborhood’s built form:

And this is a mural at the top of the hill calling for peace:

Other Resources:

A good source for current reports in English about Rio’s favelas is Rio on Watch.

In my book I also draw upon the rapper MV Bill, who grew up in the Cidade de Deus (City of God) favela in Rio. Here’s one of his songs, Como Sobreviver na Favela (How to Survive in the Favela) that I cite. Buy his music!

Finally, one of the greatest chroniclers of Rio’s favelas is the samba singer Bezerra da Silva. His music is also fantastic and worth purchasing. Here’s his song Acordo de Malandro (Hustler’s Agreement):